Report: Maple Leafs Head Coach Sweepstakes Down To Four Finalists

 

The postseason has just begun, and the rumor mill is generating the kind of buzz one would hope for, as the Toronto Maple Leafs gear up for the John Chayka era. 

According to a report from Chris Johnston, the Maple Leafs have narrowed down their search for a new head coach, post-Craig Berube, to four candidates.

Those candidates include former Dallas Stars forward Joe Pavelski, Patrick Roy, Jay Woodcroft, and Dallas Eakins. 

While we've seen the success of former players in the NHL, with Rod Brind'Amour's recent run to the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes, we're uncertain what kind of gravity someone like Joe Pavelski can have in the NHL. 

Joe Pavelski

Pavelski, recently retired, has held no coaching position before, and has no body of work to reference when it comes to a prestigious coaching gig like the Maple Leafs position. Pavelski has 1,332 games of NHL experience, and scored 1,068 points (472 goals, 592 assists) and made it to the NHL after being selected in the seventh round (205th overall in 2003). 

🚨According to CJ, the finalists for the Leafs head coaching position:

The list of candidates includes Joe Pavelski, Patrick Roy, Jay Woodcroft and Dallas Eakins, according to league sources.

— Willyston Riellander (@nylanderthews) June 16, 2026

 Patrick Roy

Patrick Roy has held coaching positions in the QMJHL Quebec Remparts, winning the Gilles-Courteau Trophy in 2022-23, and in the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche (2013-16), and recently the New York Islanders.

As a coach in the NHL, he has a record of 443-227-170, and a winning percentage of .510 in the regular season. While his record doesn't look great in the NHL, we all know how active the coaching carousel is; it rarely refreshes, and new blood doesn't come around often. Roy's record doesn't indicate a pattern of success, but it all depends on Chayka's perspective on whether or not to bring him aboard.

Dallas Eakins

Eakins is another who's been off the ride for a while and has coached the Edmonton Oilers (2013-15) and Anaheim Ducks (2019-23) before. Eakins, as an NHL coach, has no hardware to his name and won no Stanley Cups as a player. His coaching record is: 404-136-210, with a .408 winning percentage, 

Jay Woodcroft

The former Edmonton Oilers head coach was hired by the team on Feb. 10th, 2022. His tenure would conclude on Nov. 12th, 2023, after a 3-9-1 start to the regular season. Kris Knoblauch would take over and help lead the team to two consecutive Stanley Cup appearances.

Woodcroft would be a sensible selection for a team that is rebuilding itself in the image of an analytical wunderkind in Chayka. He took an Edmonton Oilers team to the playoffs twice during his tenure in Edmonton. He has a record of 133-79-41, with a .643 winning percentage, and worked his way up the ranks from the head coaching gig with the Bakersfield Condors in the AHL. 

He's found work under head coach Joel Quenneville with the Anaheim Ducks, serving as an assistant coach, and they made it to the playoffs. 

Woodcroft sounds the most promising of the three and has a better resume to back up his work. However, compared to Eakins and Roy, his sample size is much smaller.